


Cats and Canaries

by Dallas



Category: Warehouse 13
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-16
Updated: 2013-04-16
Packaged: 2017-12-08 15:42:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/763101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dallas/pseuds/Dallas
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In her own secret mission to get what she wants, Claudia discovers a bit more than she bargained on.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cats and Canaries

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sleepismyfriend](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sleepismyfriend/gifts).



She waited until he was out of sight, standing on the balcony with a clipboard trying to make it look like she was cataloguing any disturbances she could see throughout the Warehouse. But the second Artie disappeared from view she was rushing to his room. She had a good hour or so before he’d make it back from the depths of the Warehouse labyrinth – which reminded her she still needed to work out the hows and whys of Artie being in contact with the one and only David Bowie. “Boggles the mind,” she muttered to herself, shifting gears as she searched every place she could think of.

 

“Dear God, Old Man, why can’t you be like a normal person with this one little thing?” she cried out as she stopped in the middle of the room, turning on her heel as she surveyed her options.

 

The key rack was an obvious no. Who in their right mind actually stored keys on a key rack? Besides, that would be the first place Pete looked for them and that fact alone set off alarm bells. She’d tried the bedside tables to no avail, even the floor surrounding them in case he’d knocked them off. No such luck. “One potato, two potato, three potato...” she muttered as she pointed to various locations she already knew they weren’t. And then it hit her. “Four.” She smiled to herself as she crossed the room towards Artie’s coat. It was, in fact, his special coat. The coat he dressed up in when meeting the good Doctor and constantly argued with them that it was just an everyday coat. Of course they would be in his pocket. The last time he took the car for a spin he had indeed taken his lady friend with him.

 

A thought flashed in her mind of Artie and Vanessa going parking. She cleared her throat and shuddered. “Oh, that’s gonna stick right in there,” she groaned as she made a mental note to find anything in the Warehouse that would work as brain bleach. Consequences be damned. On a happier note, she had quite possibly found her ticket out of dodge for the day. Artie wouldn’t even notice his precious baby was gone until she was swaggering back into the Warehouse and spinning those gorgeous keys on her finger.

 

She grabbed a fistful of the coat and jiggled it, hearing the beautifully muffled sound of the much sought after item. “Cue the hallelujiah chorus from Charlie’s Angels on high,” she drove a hand into each pocket at the same time, not one to waste time. “This cat’s got her canary!” she declared with glee as she retrieved the keys to Artie’s prized vintage car. Yet her other hand had struck some other kind of gold and brought it up of its own accord, leaving Claudia staring at a box she was pretty sure she shouldn’t have been staring at.

 

“Don’t open it, Claudia,” she said quietly to herself, slipping the keys into her own pocket as her eyes remained trained on the foreign object. “Don’t open it, I’m warning you. This is a bad move. Do not open the box, Claudia...” even as she warned herself, her thumb pushed the lid open and she breathed in sharply. “You idiot! Shut the box. Put it back. Take the keys and run.”

 

Unfortunately, though she’d hoped countless times, she wasn’t in the Matrix. It wasn’t as easy as telling herself to do something and it was done. She was mesmerised by the object before her. A million thoughts and emotions rushed through her all at once until a knock at the door pulled her out of her thoughts. She jumped, almost losing the box and snapped it shut just in time as she turned and found the good Doctor smiling at her.

 

“Everything alright, Claudia?” she asked, glancing around - for Artie, no doubt.

 

“Yeah!” the girl responded with a little too much enthusiasm. “I was just looking for something...”

 

“And did you find it?” Vanessa asked, her smile sincere as always.

 

There was a pause and then Claudia blinked. “Huh?”

 

“Did you find what you were looking for?” the older woman clarified, frowning. It wasn’t like Claudia to lose track of a conversation so easily. From what Vanessa had seen of the girl she spoke fast, thought fast, and acted fast. Something was going on.

 

“Oh, yeah! You know how it is, always in the last place you look,” she nodded sharply, turning back to Artie’s coat and shoving the box back in the pocket. “Artie’s down in the Warehouse, probably won’t be back for a while.”

 

“That’s fine, I’ll wait,” Vanessa shrugged, smiling again. “I have some work I can catch up on. Are you sure you’re alright?”

 

“Pfft, me? I’m fine. Absolutely chipper,” Claudia flashed a grin and made her way to the door. “I’ll just be going then and I will see you when I bring the car back. If I was taking the car, which I’m not. I can walk from here. Exercise is good for the soul and all that...”

 

“Claudia...”

 

“No, really, all’s well that ends well as they say... See ya!” she ducked out of the door quickly, making a beeline for the exit. But even as she ran all she could think about was that box. The box that was likely supposed to remain a secret and probably should not have been left hidden in a room with Vanessa. Once outside, Claudia paused to digest what she’d seen. A ring, in a box, in Artie’s coat pocket...

 

A sudden grin broke out. “Well, Artemis, you sly dog,” she pulled out the car keys and shrugged. “Still stealing your car though.”


End file.
